


A Bookstore Proposal

by BigJellyMonster (orphan_account)



Series: Harry Potter Prompts [20]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Ron, F/M, Fluff, Sweet Moments, prompt, sweethearts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 12:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8844118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/BigJellyMonster
Summary: Prompt: One character has a favorite place to go (restaurant, boutique, whatever's important to them) that one day becomes permanently closed because of money issues. The character is devastated. The second character does whatever they can to bring back or recreate the closed place for the first character's sake. Can be a sweet friendly thing or super romantic. It's just nice and cute and has broad potential I think.





	

They had only been dating officially for about three months. Together, they had restored Hermione’s parents memories, gone to several ministry meetings to help shed some light on what they had been doing the past year, and to Ron’s delight, got a small apartment together.

He had insisted on having a place to stay after a year of constantly moving from place to place. His mother wished for him to remain with her for a while longer, but he wanted to have as much alone time with Hermione as he could possibly get.

He wanted to prove to her that he was serious about her, and their relationship. Whenever she complained about the mess in the apartment, he was quick to clean up. If she was exhausted from her work at the ministry, or whatever problem had come her way, he made her dinner and spent as much time as he could on helping her through it.

At night, whenever they had nightmares about the war, they would hold each other close and talk about their future together, and of other happy things until they felt safe enough to go back to sleep. Sometimes, all Ron needed after a nightmare was to know that Hermione was still sleeping soundly next to him. He never wanted to leave her side again, not after he had abandoned her in the forest.

Ron had joined Harry in becoming an Auror, but lately he felt as though it wasn’t for him. Sure, he liked the idea of being a hero again, but not if it meant that he might one day not come home to Hermione. Listening to lecture after lecture of some horrible tragedy and how the Aurors dealt with it, only made him certain that this future wasn’t for him. He had seen enough horrors for one life time, he didn’t need to spend the rest of it dealing with more. Ron didn’t want to trouble anyone with these thoughts he had been having in case he would end up disappointing someone.

So, he kept silent. Every time he spend another day in Auror training, he felt a little bit of his happiness slip away. Hermione noticed that something was bothering him, but he didn’t want to distract her with her work. Her happiness was far more important than his. “I’m fine,” He would tell her. “Don’t worry about me. Go save the world again. It needs you.”

Time passed, and both Ron and Harry became official Aurors. Harry was a natural at his job, dark wizards and criminals alike would be terrified if they knew that Harry Potter himself was after him. Ron became his partner, supporting him in the field. He never took the lead in cases, he didn’t have the strength anymore to see the darkness that the war had left behind.

One day, after Ron was resting after completing a particularly gruesome case involving a werewolf and a little girl, Hermione came home with tears in her eyes. Ron did not have much experience comforting girls, but he couldn’t stand to see her this way so he just held her in his arms while she cried. “What happened,” He asked her when she had finally calmed down.

“Before I came to Hogwarts, there was this bookstore I used to go to all the time. It was easier to read books than to make friends. I found out the owner had passed away last week, and there is no one left to run the store. They are closing it down.” She had told him. “I know it’s silly, but that’s where I was happiest before I got my Hogwarts letter. I just can’t believe that it’s not going to be there anymore.”

Ron hated seeing Hermione in tears. It was his job to take care of her and if he couldn’t do that then what kind of boyfriend was he? They ordered take out that night, neither one of them having the desire to cook. When they went to bed, Ron held Hermione until she went to sleep. He felt so stupid sometimes, because he couldn’t do anything to help the ones he loved.

In the dead of night, Ron got an idea. He knew that Hermione wasn’t the same even since the war ended, but if he could bring something from her childhood back to her to make her happy then he would. He had been saving his money for a while now. He wanted to give her the best ring he could find. It was early in their relationship to plan such things, but he had hope for their future together.

He went to gringotts and withdrew all of his money he had saved for the ring.  Next, he visited Hermione’s parents and asked them which bookstore she had been talking about. Her parents had a look of sadness in their eyes as they told him. Apparently, they had been friends with the owner. “You kind of get to know a guy when your daughter visits their store every day,” Her father had told him. “She was devastated when she found out.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ron agreed sadly. As it turned out, he had exactly the right about to buy the book store once he exchanged his galleons for muggle money. He had kept it a secret from everyone. Every extra second he had in his day, was spend on restoring the bookstore to its former glory. As he worked, he felt himself light up with the thought of Hermione seeing it.

On a warm autumn afternoon, it was finished. He had been waiting for Hermione to get home from the ministry. He was already dressed in a muggle tuxedo ready to take her out for the ngiht. When she walked in the door, she was clearly showing signs of having a bad day and did not even notice his attire. Her hair was messier than usual, her make up had smeared around her eyes, and her robes hung off of one shoulder.

“I’m home,” she announced as she walked in the door.

“Welcome, back. How was your day?” He asked casually.

“It was hell,” she huffed as she threw herself down on the couch. “The Wigamzenot thought my ideas for elf rights were ridiculous. I know I got a few more on my side this time, but overall they didn’t approve of anything I came up with. This is becoming hopeless.”

“Well… I have something that might cheer you up.” Ron smiled at her. “Get cleaned up and I’ll show you.”

“What are you…” she turned to look at him and seemed surprise at his outfit. “Ron?”

“Just do it. Trust me,” He told her.

Hermione raised her eyebrow at him, but did as she was told. Ron paced the living room nervously as he waited for her.  He already had everything ready, all he had to do was not mess it up.

“Okay, where are we going,” Hermione announced as she walked into the living room. Ron looked at her in awe. She was wearing a dark blue dress that hugged her hips, and although it was not lowcut it had an extremely low back letting Ron see every inch of skin there.

“Wow,” he said breathlessly. “You look amazing.”

  
Hermione smiled. “Thank you, Ron.”

“No, I mean it. You look….just… perfect.” Ron said with a look of wonder in his eyes. “Okay, if you want to see it you have to be blindfolded.”

“Ron…” Hermione said uncertainly.

“You’ll love it,” Ron promised as he took his tie off and placed it over her eyes. He took her by the arm and apparated to the very bookstore she had spent her childhood in. Ron guided her through the doors and into the book store.  “Okay, open your eyes,” he said as he took off her blindfold.

What she saw took her breath away. Her childhood bookstore was lit up with floating candles, The ceiling was twinkling with the stars of the night sky, and there was a table set for two in the middle of the room surrounded by books.

“It looks like it always did when the lights are on. I didn’t want to change too much, but I thought you might like it if it looked a little more magical sometimes. It took me the longest to learn the spell to change the ceiling, I had to pull out your copy of Hogwarts a History to look it up. Do you like it?” Ron asked hopefully.

Hermione said nothing. Silent tears fell down her face as she looked around the room.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I can change it back,” Rom panicked and took out his wand. “It isn’t that big of a problem I can-”

“Ron,” Hermione interrupted with a watery smile. “It’s _wonderful_. It’s so perfect. You did all of this for me?”

“Of course, I did. I couldn’t stand to see you so upset. Not after… not after everything we have been through. I don’t want to see you upset like that ever again.” Ron told her.

“This is amazing Ron, perfect even. But, who will run it? With your hours as an Auror, and me working at the ministry, we won’t have enough time between us to keep this place afloat. Maybe it was for the best,” she said sadly.

“I don’t want to be an Auror,” Ron finally said. “I can’t see all of that… that… every day.”

“Oh Ron, is that what has been bothering you? I don’t mind it if you don’t want to do that anymore. But, do you really want to run a bookstore Ron?” She asked.

“I would do it if it meant that you would be happy, Hermione. But, that’s not the only reason I did this…” Ron smiled at her. “I _was_ saving for a ring, but once this idea came to me, I thought that it would be more fitting.”

“Ron?” Hermione asked confused.

He got down on both knees and took Hermione’s hand’s in his. “I know we haven’t officially been dating for long, but I can’t imagine a second of my life without you. Hermione, I don’t need to be an Auror to feel like a hero. Making you happy is all I need to do that. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. Would you let me do that Hermione? Will you marry me?”

Hermione grinned at him, joyous tears streaming down her face. “Yes, of course. YES!” She jumped in his arms and kissed him like she didn’t ever want to let him go. When they finally did, they both had large grins on their faces. “Did you really do all this by yourself?”

“Always the tone of surprise,” He laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> Want to send me a prompt? Find me on Tumblr!
> 
> Bigjellymonster.tumblr.com


End file.
